League of Women Voters of the Jackson Area THE VOTER
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League of Women Voters
of the Jackson Area
THE VOTER
P.O. Box 68214, Jackson, MS 39286-8214
http://www.lwv-ms.org/Jackson_League.html
OCTOBER 2018
League of Women Voters is where hands-on work to safeguard democracy leads to civic improvement
Kate Farabaugh and Julia Weaver
Mississippi Public Education PAC board members
Mississippi Public Education PAC Representatives
to Speak at LWV-JA Meeting Nov. 17, 2018. Representatives of the Mississippi Public Education PAC
(MSPEPAC), a nonpartisan political action committee that
champions public education, will discuss the PAC’s work at
the League of Women Voters-Jackson Area membership
meeting Saturday, November 17, 2018. The meeting will be
held at the Willie Morris Branch Library, 4912 Old Canton
Road, Jackson, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. This meeting is free
and open to League members and the general public.
Founded in 2016 by a group of passionate public school
parents from around the state who advocate for high-quality
public schools, MSPEPAC’s mission is to help elect pro-
public education candidates to the Mississippi
Legislature to strengthen, support and protect
existing public schools in the state. The
MSPEPAC is a nonpartisan organization.
The MSPEPAC’s mission aligns with the
League’s position on education, which states,
“The League supports uniformity in student
opportunity, including equity in spending and
quality of education.” To this end, the League
maintains a number of positions related to
education, which can be found on the
Mississippi LWV website: http://www.lwv-
ms.org/about_action.html.
Speaking on behalf of the MSPEPAC will be
Tupelo resident Kate Farabaugh, who has been
involved in Tupelo’s public schools since her
first child entered kindergarten. She currently
serves on the MSPEPAC board, as well as
PTO president at Carver Elementary and
Tupelo High School. She will be joined by
fellow MSPEPAC board member Julia
Weaver of Ocean Springs, who is a longtime
advocate for children and public schools and is
one of the founders of Fed Up with 50th, a
statewide public education advocacy group.
She has been a volunteer at Oak Park
Elementary, Taconi Elementary, Ocean
Springs Middle School and Ocean Springs
High School, all in Ocean Springs.
Please plan to attend and bring a guest.
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We are in the midst of an important season in the political life of our state, with
elections pending on Nov. 6 for all of our congressional offices, four special
elections to fill vacant seats in the Mississippi State Legislature, and elections
to fill one Mississippi Supreme Court justice position and numerous intermediate
appellate courts and local judge positions.
Your local League of Women Voters has been very busy these last several weeks, registering new voters,
updating voter registration information for folks who have changed addresses since the last election, helping
coordinate candidate forums and generally informing and educating our communities about the elections and
voting processes. You may read about some of these activities in detail elsewhere in this newsletter.
The National League of Women Voters recently shared a very useful article that appeared on the Elle
magazine website which offers several very good suggestions for how we can all participate in the upcoming
elections, as citizens, whether we have 5 minutes or an entire day to spare. A few highlighted activities are
summarized below. I hope you will scan this list of ways to participate in our local political processes this
election season. I read a fitting line once that said democracy is not a natural force or secret weapon; it only
works when most citizens actively participate. Here are a few ways we can all participate in our democracy,
whether we have 5 minutes or several hours per week.
1. Get registered to vote—and actually show up to the polls—on Nov. 6.
2. Talk to your friends and family about their voting plans. Research shows if someone has thought
through their plan on Election Day, that increases the likelihood they will actually go and vote.
3. Post on social media. Even small things, like posting a selfie with your voter registration card or
voting sticker, is helpful.
4. Donate to a candidate or a related organization
5. Volunteer for a campaign. Your role could be as intensive as going door to door talking to voters or as
simple as dropping off food for volunteers and staffers.
6. Volunteer with a political organization, such as your local chapter of the League of Women Voters
where we help register voters, host debates, staff information tables at festivals, and inform voters
about various ballot initiatives.
7. Become a poll worker.
As you can see, there are many ways you can become involved in our political process. The League of
Women Voters of the Jackson Area encourages you to get involved in any way your schedule allows, and at
the very least, cast your vote on Election Day.
See you at the polls Nov. 6!
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Carol Andersen
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Officers and Board of Directors
President
Carol Andersen
1st Vice-President
Program/Administration
Deloris Lee
2nd
Vice-President
Voter Services
Anna Ingebretsen Hall
Secretary
Megan Tidwell
Treasurer
Gene Everitt
Elected Directors Membership: Elaine Talbott
Voter Editor: Savina Schoenhofer
Appointed Directors
Social Media/PR: Joy Parikh
National Items: Vacancy
State Items: Annie Reiher
Nominating Committee
Elaine Talbott
Nicki Green
Barbara Powell
Calendar
Nov. 10 Board Meeting*
Nov. 17 Membership Meeting,
10:30-11:30 AM
Willie Morris Library
4912 Old Canton Rd.
Jackson, MS 39211
TOPIC: Mississippi Public Education PAC
Jan. 8 Board Meeting, 6:00 p.m.*
Feb. Date TBD
LWV-MS Legislative Day
Feb. 12 Board Meeting, 6:00 p.m.*
Mar. 2 Membership Meeting
Willie Morris Library
4912 Old Canton Road
Jackson, MS 39211
Topic: TBD
Mar. 12 Board Meeting, 6:00 p.m.*
Dates and Locations To Be Determined for:
LWV-JA Annual Meeting
LWV-MS Annual Meeting
Unless otherwise noted, all board meeting will
be at 6:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of the
Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce, 121 Jefferson St., Jackson. All
meetings are open to the public.
League of Women Voters – Jackson Area
2018-2019
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LWV-JA MEMBER PROFILE
JOANNE OLSON
(DOC) told me I can vote, I don’t want to because
it might cause me trouble.” These individuals had a
real fear that voting could result in their being
arrested and returned to jail.
A second frequent response was “I don’t believe in
voting.” This response remains a mystery to me but
definitely signals a need for greater understanding
of civics.
Recently, I have spent several afternoons
participating in a get-out-the-vote effort that
identified 2000 voters removed from the voter
registration list in Hinds County and also identified
over 10,000 citizens who are on the voter rolls but
have not voted in recent elections. The volunteers
prepared letters to the dropped voters telling them
how to get reregistered and postcards to many of
the non-voters encouraging them to vote on
November 6, 2018.
Amazingly, both the voter registration and the get-
out-the vote effort were organized by a group of 7
committed citizens who felt the need to take action.
Obviously the problems of voter confidence and
knowledge of the voting process and current issues
cannot be solved by any single organization. It will
take many, many groups organizing voter
registration drives, informing citizens of issues,
participating in get-out-the vote activities,
canvassing neighborhoods, arranging forums, and
sitting around dining room tables preparing
informational letters and postcards for mailing.
The League of Women voters can certainly be one
of these many groups who together can make a
difference.
For several years in the 1980’s I served as Director
of a program for teen school dropouts from low
income homes. One of our enrollees, 17-year-old
Jack, was living with his 22-year-old guardian after
being been released after 10 months in pre-trial
detention for a crime he did not commit. While Jack
was enrolled in the program, he stole a car “because
he needed one.” One of the program’s goals for
Jack was to have him gain entry level employment.
After completing the program’s job-getting skills
component, Jack was ready to take his completed
application to the Kentucky Fried Chicken
restaurant. However, this teen, after spending a
year in jail and stealing a car, simply did not have
the confidence to walk into the restaurant and hand
the manager his application.
At the same time I was working with teen school
dropouts, my own children, Pete, Matt, and Kristin,
after finishing at Casey Elementary School, were
enrolled at Chastain Middle School and Murrah
High School. While volunteering as a PTA member
at these schools, I often heard that lower income
parents “didn’t care” enough to come to parent
teacher conferences or otherwise participate in
school activities. . While working with the
dropouts, I realized that many lower income parents
simply did not have the confidence to enter the
school and speak with the teachers.
In August of this year, I participated in a voter
registration drive that ultimately resulted in well
over 200 voter registration forms being submitted.
Not everyone we talked to wanted to register to
vote. One common response from people who were
eligible to vote was some variation of “I’ve been in
jail and don’t want to go back. Even though they
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The practice of manipulating the boundaries of electoral districts for party or class gain dates to the
earliest days of U.S. government, and it plays a significant role in the divisive nature of American
politics. Jackson attorney Brad Pigott shared some of the history of political redistricting – or
gerrymandering – with the League of Women Voters-Jackson Area at their September meeting, and
discussed a proposal the state League of Women Voters is supporting to amend the state constitution to
change how redistricting occurs in Mississippi.
Mississippi's state legislative lines are drawn by the Legislature and passed as a joint resolution every
10 years, following the U.S. census. The Legislature is assisted in this process by a 20-member joint
legislative committee. If the Legislature fails to pass a state legislative plan, lines are drawn by a five-
member backup commission.
When the redistricting process is controlled by a legislature, partisan gerrymandering can occur.
Gerrymandering is when this map-drawing process is intentionally used to benefit a particular political
party — to help that party win more seats in the legislature, or more easily protect the ones it has. The
goal is to create many districts that will elect members of one party, and only a few that will elect
members of the opposite party.
Pigott, along with Rep. Tommy Reynolds of Tallahatchie County, has proposed an addition to the
Mississippi Constitution to lessen the potential for political manipulation of the redistricting process,
and he has approached the LWVMS for League support of the amendment. Pigott shared key points of
the proposed amendment with Jackson League members at their September meeting:
· each district shall be a single member district;
· the population of each house and senate district shall be substantially the same;
· counties shall be divided as few times as possible to create districts;
· if a county does not have sufficient population to comprise a complete district, it shall be
included as a whole in whatever district it is assigned;
· each municipality shall be divided to the minimum extent possible in the creation of districts
Pigott told LWVJA members he is available to speak to other groups that may be willing to support
such an amendment and to assist in collecting the 86,000 signatures required to place the initiative on
the 2020 Mississippi ballot.
Drawing the Line: A Proposal to Amend How
State Legislative Districts are Assigned
Carol Anderson reports on Brad Pigott’s Presentation at the September
15, 2018 Meeting of the League of Women Voters-Jackson Area
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LWV-US News
Priority - Voting Rights
Voting is a fundamental right
and all eligible voters should
have the equal opportunity to
exercise that right. We are
dedicated to ensuring that our
elections remain free, fair and
accessible.
One of the Voting Rights Priority issues being addressed currently by the
League of Women Voters nationally is Redistricting. Here is our national
position on this important issue:
Congressional districts and government legislative bodies should be
apportioned substantially on population. We oppose partisan and
racial gerrymandering that strips rights away from voters.
To learn more about the LWV effort to assure fair apportionment, go to the
Featured Content section:
https://www.lwv.org/voting-
rights?_ga=2.151770042.22911683.1539169968-1936928575.1539169968
LWV-JA Voter Services
The good news is that Voter Services VP Anna Hall was
delivering her last group of voter registration forms to the
mailbox just as The Voter was going to press…and that’s the
bad news too – Anna has been so busy organizing and
conducting voter registration drives and helping with
candidate forums that she was not able to prepare a report this
month, but she promises to be back in November. However,
we do know that the registration drive at Wellsfest was a
resounding success, with 25 voter registration forms
completed. Good work, Anna and Team!
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Photos from LWV-JA Membership Recruitment Brunch,
September 15, 2018
courtesy Joy Parikh and Natalie Maynor
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LWV-MS Voter Guide
The League of Women Voters of Mississippi is participating in a resource project to educate voters by
providing a sample ballot and sharing campaign literature of candidates. Although the Voter Guide is
presently under construction, you are invited to visit the site and become familiar with its function.
It is easy to operate – just go to https://lwvms.civicengine.com/ and type in your address, then click on
GET STARTED. When the site is fully functioning, you can click through a series of pages to review
each race and material provided by candidates. This would be a good time to sign up to be notified
when the ballot is complete (see green banner at the top of the ballot).
“The League of Women Voters of Mississippi is furthering our mission of
empowering and educating voters in our state. The Mississippi General
Election is Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Research candidates on the entire
ballot and prepare to vote this election.”
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MEMBERSHIP NEWS
Elaine Talbott
With this busy election season it is a great time to
be part of the League of Women Voters Jackson
Area. Voters count on League for not only voter
registration but also accurate non-partisan
information on candidates and issues.
Although we are always welcoming new members,
our September meeting places a special emphasis
on member recruitment. We had five guests in
September and we are pleased that Noreen Prouty,
Susan Carson and Katie McClendon are now
League members.
If you haven’t met them please introduce yourself
at our upcoming meeting. Also be sure to invite a
neighbor or friend to our meetings. We have many
interesting topics on the agenda in the coming
months.
Elaine Talbott
Membership Director
A warm welcome
to our newest
LWV-JA members
Noreen Prouty
Susan Carson
Katie McClendon
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS-JACKSON AREA
MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK
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